Apparatus for stretching trousers or the like and holding the same in stretched condition



May 26, 1970 J E. P. DE DUBE 3,514,021

APPARATUS FOR STRIEITCHING TROUSERS OR THE LIKE AND HOLDING THE SAME IN STRETCHED CONDITION Filed Sept. 16, 1968 INVENTOR. JAN EDWARD PROCHAZKA de ouae ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,514,021 APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING TROUSERS OR THE LIKE AND HOLDING THE SAME IN STRETCHED CONDITION Jan E. P. de Dube, 34-36 80th St., Jackson Heights, N.Y. 11372 Filed Sept. 16, 1968, Ser. No. 762,260 Int. Cl. D06c 15/00 US. Cl. 223--61 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device is provided for stretching trousers or the like and holding the same in stretched condition. The device consists of two members one of which is tiltable towards the other, which latter member includes elements mounted on hinges so as to be pivoted by engagement with the tiltable member, said elements being mounted in such a manner as to be displaceable away from one another so that the trousers are stretched in two directions disposed perpendicularly with respect to one another. In another form, only one direction of stretch is provided.

DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view partially in a section of a stretching apparatus provided in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the operative position of certain of the elements being illustrated in phantom lines;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a broken-away portion of a part of the apparatus of FIG. 1 illustrating the two positions of the elements which are adapted to engage an article of clothing to be processed;

FIG. 3 illustrates a hinged arrangement for use in the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 for displacing the elements which engage the article of clothing; and

BIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 illustrating an embodiment suitable for one direction of stretch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to devices and apparatus for stretching trousers or the like and holding the same in stretched condition for an extended period of time during which wrinkles and creases are removed therefrom.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved holder which will support trousers and the like in a stretched condition for an extended period of time for purposes of pressing the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus which will stretch fabrics in two mutually perpendicular directions in order that the fabric can be appropriately stretched for purposes of removing creases and wrinkles therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus of the above-noted type which can be readily manufactured with mass production techniques and is therefore of relatively low cost.

To achieve the above and other of the objects of the invention, there is proposed an apparatus comprising two members adapted for being positioned in facing relationship with the article to be processed at least partly therebetween, there being furthermore provided means for supporting the members for relative displacement towards and away from each other and means on one of the members for being engaged by the article on the other of said members and responsive to being engaged for stretching the article in at least one but preferably two angularly related directions.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, a hinge means or the like is provided by means of which fabricengaging elements are displaced in two directions upon engaging the fabric whereby the fabric is stretched as has been indicated above.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, detailed description of a prefered embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the figures of which have been described above.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3 a housing 10 is supported in generally vertical attitude on a base 12. The housing 10 supports a relatively fiat member 14 in generally vertical atti1ude, the member 14 being laterally connected to the housing 10.

Towards the bottom of the housing 10 is provided a support element 16 having a hinge 1-8 to which is connected a supporting leaf 20 on which is supported a second generally flat member 22. The members 14 and 22 are adapted for being positioned in facing relationship.

At the top of member 14 are mounted a pair of elements 24 and 26, while at the bottom of the member 14 are mounted a corresponding pair of elements indicated at 28. The elements 24, 26 and 28 are connected to the member 14 by hinges such as generally indicated at 30 and 32. Said elements are provided with rounded extremities 33 of relatively high coefiicients of friction for engaging fabrics. To this end, they can be covered with rubber or have corrugated surfaces or the like.

The elements 24, 26 and 28 are normally maintained in an idle attitude tilted towards the member 22 by means of spring members 34 and 36, which are themselves connected to the member 14.

Mounted on the housing 10 is a bracket 38. This bracket supports a control arm 40 provided with a roller 42 which engages the member 22.

The hinge elements referred to hereinabove may be such as illustrated in FIG. 3, although there are a wide variety of mechanical elements which are capable of performing the same function and may thus also be used in connection with apparatus of the invention. The purpose of such hinge elements is to provide for a tilting of the elements 24, 26 and 28, while at the same time providing for a lateral displacement of the same relative to each other and to the member 14. Thus, for example and as seen in FIG. 2, elements 24 and 26 are displaceable towards and away from each other as indicated by the arows 44 and 46.

FIG. 3 illustrates the member 14 atop which is arranged, for example, the element 24. The hinge is indicated generally at 30 and is connected to the member 14 by means of a flange 48 and to the element 24 by means of a flange 50.

, The hinge 30 consists of a part 52 which is rotatably connected to a part 54 by means of a spindle 56. The spindle 56 extending inside of the part 52 is supported in a bearing 58 and may be provided with a head 60 which by means of a helical spring 62 is forced away from the bearing 58. Thus the head 60 will be urged to a normal position of rest which is at a maximum distance away from bearing 58.

As appears in FIG. 3 the part 50 is provided with a cam surface 64 which rides against a cam surface 66 on the part 52. Relative rotation between these two parts, as is provided by a tilting of the element 24, will cause the element 52 to be axially displaced relative to the part 54 in the direction of arrow 44.

In operation, an article of clothing (indicated by the dash line 68) is draped over the member 22, whereupon the arm 40 is operated to move the member 22 in the direction indicated by arrow 6. This tilting movement brings the member 22 into facing relationship with the member 14, trapping the article 68 therebetween.

During movement of the member 22 towards the member 14, the article of clothing draped on the member 22 will come into engagement with elements 24, 26 and 28, and will urge these members to tilt into coplanar relationship with the member 14, whereupon the elements 24, 26 and 28 will partake of the movement indicated generally by arrows 44 and 46.

By virtue of the elements 24, 26 and 28 moving from tilted attitude into erect attitude, the extremities thereof will move vertically upwardly or downwardly according to their position on the member 14. This will cause the article 68 to be stretched in lateral direction. At the same time, due to the provision of special hinges 30 and 32, elements 24 and 26 on the one hand and the pair of elements 28 on the other hand, will move away from each other and will thus cause the article 68 to be stretched in lateral direction. Thus the invention provides for stretching the article 68 in two mutually perpendicular directions, the article being held in this stretched condition for an extended period of time during which the creases and wrinkles therein will be removed. 7

FIG. 4 shows a simplified version of the invention which provides for one direction of stretch. In this embodiment only one pivotable element 80 is mounted at the top (and at the bottom) of member 14 by ordinary hinges 82 and 84.

From what has been stated above, it is seen that the invention provides an apparatus for stretching an article of clothing and holding the same in stretched condition, this apparatus comprising two members adapted for being positioned in facing relationship with the article at least partly therebetween. A means is provided for supporting these members for relative displacement towards and away from each other and means is further provided on one of the members for being engaged by the article on the other of said members and responsive to being engaged for stretching said article in at least one but preferably two angularly related directions.

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications and variations of the construction set forth above. These modifications and variations will not depart from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for stretching an article of clothing and holding the same in stretched condition, said apparatus comprising two interconnected members mounted on a common base and positioned in facing relation, with said article adapted to be held at least partially therebetween, the base supporting the members for relative displacement toward and away from each other, means mounted on one of said members engaging the article on the other of said members so that relative movement of said members will stretch the article in two angularly related directions.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means includes elements arranged in two spaced pairs, one pair being spaced from the other pair, one element of each pair being spaced from the other element thereof, and hinge means coupling each said element independently and pivotally to said one member such that the elements of each pair move away from each other on being pivoted, and means for urging said elements towards an idle position tilted towards said other member.

elements of a pair tilted towards said other member, the

latter said elements are displaced towards each other by said hinge means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,499,109 2/ 1950 Read 223-61 2,626,091 l/ 1953 Reguitti 22361 3,287,836 11/1966 Reguitti 3871 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

